Online income tax returns submission from Nov 1

Taxpayers will be able to file income tax returns for the current fiscal year of 2016-2017 online from November 1 as the National Board of Revenue will launch the system on the day.Under the system, individual and company taxpayers will be able to pay income tax and file their returns from anywhere visiting the dedicated web portal, www.etaxnbr.gov.bd, without visiting the tax offices.State minister for finance and planning MA Mannan on Thursday inaugurated the pilot programme of the e-filing system at the Income Tax Zone-4, Dhaka of the revenue board to test the effectiveness of the system and for fine-tuning it.Another test programme will be run in Tangail tomorrow.At Thursday’s programme, Mannan asked the NBR to ensure online tax payment along with the e-filing of tax returns.The system will not be effective without full automation of tax payment system, he said.He also suggested that the tax officials should build trust among the taxpayers through making the tax payment system easier and reducing number of forms and other formalities for increasing tax collection.‘Forms are the most hated part of tax payment system,’ he said.NBR chief Md Nojibur Rahman said that e-filing system would make the tax payment process easy and reduce hassle of taxpayers.‘Taxpayers will not need to visit tax offices,’ he said.Taxpayers of the zone-4 and Tangail will be able to test the system visiting the respective field offices on October 30 and 31, he said.The NBR will address the problems, if found any, by the November 1, he added.The deadline for payment of tax and filing returns is November 30 for individual taxpayers.Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith will inaugurate the e-filling system on November 1 at the opening ceremony of the week-long income tax fair at the new NBR building in the capital’s Agargaon.NBR member Kalipada Halder said that the system would automatically calculate the tax liability of the taxpayers once they provide information related to income.A taxpayer will have to visit only one time the respective field offices to obtain a user ID and password to get access to the system, he said.An acknowledgement receipt for tax payment will be generated instantly while tax certificate will be generated five minutes after returns submission is completed, he said.Under the mechanism, taxpayers will also be able to fill in income tax returns forms online, prepare their annual income and expenditure statements, calculate payable income tax, submit scanned copies of relevant documents and pay income tax.Taxpayers will also be able to maintain an account in the e-filing system to preserve their documents including returns and certificates for future use, Kalipada, also the project director of the e-filing project, said.Taxpayers will be able to pay tax online through e-payment platform of the NBR and will require submitting the code of e-payment to complete the returns filing online.Those who will pay tax manually through treasury challan will have to attach the scanned copy of challan with the online return system to complete the procedure.Currently, taxpayers can pay tax online using debit card and other cards of Sonali Bank.The NBR is also working to develop a system so that taxpayers can pay tax using debit or credit cards and bank accounts.